My Blog (Eugene Ward)

Another day of shame for the police here in Peru as students are attacked in their university campus  Students attacked at San Marcos University There has been protests against the president Dina Boularte who came to power last month after former president Pedro Castillo was impeeched. Protests across Peru which have been going on since early December have claimed close to 50 lives. Protests in Peru The presidential election of 2021 saw Castillo, who is popular in much of Peru but not in Lima finish ahead of right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori. Her supporters, similar to Donald Trump and Brazils's Jair Bolsonaro, have always contested the outcome of the election despite international observers agreeing that it was free and fair. Peru Elections 2021 Castillo's time in office was turbulant. He had his enemies in parliament who have tried to oust him several times, finally succeeding on 7th December 2022 after he tried to close the parliament in a failed self-coup.  F...

France v Argentina. World Cup Final 🇫🇷🇦🇷 FIFA say it has been the best World Cup ever. Everyone has a favourite World Cup dependent on whether their team is in it, how they did, and memories of watching the games. My favourite World Cup was Italia'90. I know it wasn't the best tournament in terms of the games but Ireland qualified for the first time and got to the Quarter Finals, although  the team only scored 2 goals in 480 minutes of football. 1990 was the first World Cup I was truely excited about. I remember Mexico'86, I have vague memories of Northern Ireland v Brazil and the final but 1990 was the first I watched with interest. 2002 also stands out, the early morning games.  In the Fir Trees Hotel at 0730h to watch Ireland-Cameroon. Celebrating Robbie Keane's equaliser against Germany. The heartache of a defeat to Spain on penalties. There has been a few shocks this year but the final pits the current World Champions against the winners of the Finalissima; the...

 A little bit on the February we had. It was an action-packed month with birthdays, anniversaries and various trips to the beach. The height of summer here in Peru.  There was the historic moment on 14th when Liam lost his first tooth. There was no need to search outside McGarrigle's shoe shop in Strabane for this one.  I had my 22x2 birthday and our 2x2x2 wedding anniversary on 22/2 And March started with one of the greatest days of the year, Pancake Tuesday The world news is dominated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and what it means for the future. There have been scenes of great suffering in Ukraine which of course is terrible. Of course the Ukranian people need the help of Western governments, and the show of solidarity with them is to be welcomed. The Palestinian people however, have been suffering in a similar way for decades and the world has turned a blind eye. Many even criticise those who try and help the Palestinian people or show empathy with them. Indeed,...

 January is the month when the contrast between the Northern and Southern hemisphere is greatest. Back in Europe, it's cold, wet and dark but in the Southern Hemisphere it's the middle of summer. Sitting in the heat of Lima watching Gaelic games played in winds and rain brought home the contrast.  The first month of the year, it was a month of new beginnings and with a few problems. Swimming lessons and a new class for Liam, a new morning summer school; but on the downside there was illness and there were power cuts. Managed to walk over 50km during the month and we had a few trips to Starbucks  Liam enjoyed the swimming even though he ought to pay more attention to the teachers. So that's the first month of the year chalked off, a month of ups and downs. On to February